Work

Spaces of memory, scales of memory: The Equal Justice Initiative's marking of lynching from Montgomery to Montevallo and beyond, 2015–2025

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The existing literature on the Equal Justice Initiative's National Memorial for Peace and Justice tends to draw on site visits made to Montgomery soon after the 2018 opening and so does not discuss the changes that have taken place at the site and elsewhere. This article addresses this gap by offering a longitudinal study of the EJI's evolving memorialisation of lynchings, focusing specifically on their changing scalar emphasis that ranges from the nation, through the county and city to the body. As well as broadening the chronology to signal the dynamic nature of this memorial, it moves beyond the NMPJ and Montgomery to place this within a wider assemblage that includes over a hundred of state historical markers erected across America. Although historical markers have recently attracted the attention of historical geographers, scholars have not paid attention to the EJI's use of this traditional memorial form within their wider memory work, including replicating these within the NMPJ since 2022. Alongside this empirical contribution, the article argues for the need to pay attention to the epistemologies of scale in memory work. The NMPJ and historical markers represent not only different monumental forms in different places, but also different scales of memory work. • The article situates the EJI's National Memorial for Peace and Justice , Montgomery within a broader chronology and geography to reveal changes at both the site and elsewhere within the memorial assemblage. • The article focuses on epistemologies of scale to understand the evolving memory work of the Equal Justice Initiative. • The article demonstrates the centrality of the county to the EJI's original plans for the National Memorial for Peace and Justice , Montgomery. • The article explores the shifting role of historical markers within the Equal Justice Initiative's memory work. • The article updates the scholarship on the National Memorial for Peace and Justice through analysis of important changes at the site since 2021.

Source: Journal of Historical Geography

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhg.2025.12.003

Author: Tim Cole

Institution: University of Bristol

Language: English

Topic: Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Peace, justice, and strong institutions, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,220